Catoan

Infobox musical artist
Name = catoan


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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = Belfast, Northern Ireland
Genre = rock
prog-folk
Years_active = 2006-2008
Label = Curious Incident Records
Associated_acts =
URL = [http://www.catoan.com Official site]
Current_members = Paddy McKeown
Rúaidhrí Mannion
John Ferris
Cavan Fyans
Rob Baker
Additional_musicians = Iain McDougall

catoan (usually all lower case) was an Irish rock/prog-folk band, formed in Belfast in 2006/7 by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Paddy McKeown. The other band members were violinist Rúaidhrí Mannion, electric guitarist John Ferris, bassist Cavan Fyans and drummer Rob Baker. The band were frequently accompanied by saxophonist, Iain McDougall. The band name was conjured up by Rúaidhrí Mannion and allegedly came from an acronym of sorts although some mystery still surrounds its origin. catoan announced that the band had split in early 2008 due to "various circumstances".

History

Formation

Paddy McKeown had been performing as a solo artist for a number of years in England and had a brief stint in NYC before returning to his native Belfast where he formed catoan.

The band started out primarily as a backing band and Paddy continued to be promoted as a solo artist receiving great critical acclaim and even getting featured on the MySpace homepage for two weeks in August 2006. Then, in March 2007, the band announced the change to become catoan. McKeown has stated that he had never intended to be a solo artist and had been building a career as such due to not having found the right band dynamic. As soon as it became apparent that the members of the Paddy McKeown band were set to stick around, and because the unit functioned as a band anyway, the name change was a natural move.

Radio

catoan have done a number of sessions for various radio stations including BBC Radio Ulster's [http://www.bbc.co.uk/atl Across The Line] , Dublin's [http://www.phantom.ie Phantom FM] and Cork's 96FM [http://www.96fm.ie/show.asp?showid=greenroom] .
catoan gained coveted airplay on BBC Radio 1 in March and again in September 2007 [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/rorymcconnell/tracklistingarchive.shtml?20070315 BBC - Radio 1 - Rory McConnell - Tracklisting ] ] bringing their new name to a much wider audience and helping secure them as one of the more prominent bands of Northern Ireland.
The band continue to get airplay on NI stations such as [http://www.u105.com U105fm] , [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radiofoyle/ Radio Foyle] and [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/radioulster/ Radio Ulster] .

Print Media

The band both as Paddy McKeown (and band) and as catoan have received positive coverage both locally and nationally through magazines and papers such as AU Magazine [ [http://www.catoan.com/feature1.htm actoan Review Page: What others have said! ] ] , Hotpress [ [http://www.hotpress.com/music/interviews/3909830.html Tunes to DIY for ] ] , The Belfast Telegraph [ [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/news/article2378296.ece Your chance to see the future of Ulster rock 'n' roll - News - Music & Gigs - Entertainment - Belfast Telegraph ] ] , The Big List and The Belfast Beat [ [http://www.catoan.com/feature3.htm catoan Review Page: What others have said! ] ] , as well as websites like Culture Northern Ireland [ [http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?articleID=2543 CultureNorthernIreland ] ] , Drowned In Sound [ [http://discover.drownedinsound.com/event/view/26666 Drowned in Sound - Reviews - Live - Catoan ] ] and the BBC's Across The Line [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/atl/review_specific32935.shtml BBC - Northern Ireland - Across The Line ] ] .

Best of Rising Irish Talent

After having been selected to perform on the Belfast leg of the IMRO showcase tour the band found their track, "Stranger" on an IMRO compilation CD entitled, "The Best of Rising Irish Talent", which went out with the Irish Daily Star to its 500,000 readership across Ireland on Saturday 21st April, 2007, helping them gain national recognition. [ [http://www.imro.ie/newstastic/news.php?item=9543 IMRO News | IMRO Showcase Tour Round-Up ] ]

Performances

The band regularly perform around their native Belfast having played such venues as The Empire Music Hall, Laverys, The Pavilion, The Black Box, Auntie Annies, The Limelight and Spring and Airbrake.

catoan embarked on their first national Irish tour in August 2007 [ [http://www.imro.ie/newstastic//news.php?item=9614 IMRO News | Catoan Announce Irish Tour ] ] .

Members of the band have done pared down acoustic performances as support for Jack L and Kate Nash.

The End

In May 2008, catoan officially announced that they had decided to split due to a variety of reasons and circumstances.

Paddy is rumoured to be going solo again with new material due out later in the year [ [http://www.paddymckeown.com/infopage.html ] ] while Ruaidhri, Cavan and John announced the beginnning of their new project, [http://www.thesummerexperiment.com The Summer Experiment] , in July 2008. [ [http://www.myspace.com/thesummerexperimentquartet ] ]

Discography

*"and will i" (released on Curious Incident Records in Ireland on 10th August 2007 and in the UK on 19th October 2007.

See [http://www.curiousincidentrecords.com Curious Incident Records]

External links

* [http://www.catoan.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.curiousincidentrecords.com Curious Incident Records]
* [http://www.hotpress.com/music/interviews/3909830.html HotPress article]
* [http://discover.drownedinsound.com/event/view/26666 Drowned In Sound review of catoan concert]
* [http://www.catoan.com/feature3.htm catoan Belfast Beat interview]
* [http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/music-gigs/news/article2378296.ece catoan in Belfast Telegraph article on IMRO Showcase tour]
* [http://www.culturenorthernireland.org/article.aspx?articleID=2543 Article on catoan (while known as Paddy McKeown and band]
* [http://www.catoan.com/feature1.htm AU Article on catoan (while known as Paddy McKeown and band)]
* [http://catoan.com/info_link_7.htm Twenty-Four-Seven interview with paddy for Cinemagic Music Festival '06]

References